


Un-break My Heart, Say You'll Love Me Again

by EstelweNadia



Category: Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cringey Colgate advertisement, Do not repost, Exes, Family Dinners, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Not Beta Read, Post-Break Up, Reconciliation, Yibo's Chan smile, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24454582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelweNadia/pseuds/EstelweNadia
Summary: Based on the prompt: “So like, i know we broke up and stuff but funny story, i haven’t told my family yet and they just assumed you’d be coming with me for [insert family celebration] and i really don’t know how to tell them and i know this is really selfish but i can’t break my great grandma’s heart like that, she’ll probably have a heart attack and– wait what? you’d do that for me? holy shit, i love you… wait–”Or: Yibo and Xiao Zhan had broken up a year ago and Yibo had yet to inform his family of the news. He found out that he could no longer run away from the truth when his parents invited him to a family dinner and asked him to bring Xiao Zhan along.(Please do not repost or reupload this work to any other site outside of AO3 without the expressed permission from the author.)
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo & Xiao Zhan, Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan
Comments: 11
Kudos: 222





	Un-break My Heart, Say You'll Love Me Again

**Author's Note:**

> I saw it written in WangXian version and I thought that the prompt is interesting, so I came up with the YiZhan version. Story does not exactly follow the prompt though. I hope you don't mind. ^^

The most dreaded moment of Yibo's life smacked him right in the middle of his video call with his family one lazy afternoon.

_"Yibo ah, bring Zhanzhan to our family dinner this weekend okay? It's been forever since we saw him and we miss him."_

Yibo was immediately rendered speechless.

He and Zhan-gē... Xiao Zhan had broken up for nearly a year and Yibo still hadn't gotten around to tell his family.

Perhaps he was in denial, or reluctant to let go of his still festering feelings over Xiao Zhan even though he tried so hard.

_"Yibo?"_

"Ah..." Yibo scrambled to formulate an answer. What should he say? The last thing he wanted to do now was to disappoint his family who was looking forward for the reunion after the quarantine. "Then, you miss him, but don't miss me?"

 _"How can we miss you, when we video called almost everyday?"_ his mother jokingly replied, _"Bring your boyfriend over, okay, Yibo? It will make us very happy to see both of you."_

How could he say no to his parents, when they looked so hopeful, so happy?

"Alright then," Yibo said weakly, forcing a megawatt smile on his face that felt eeriely similar to the smiles he wore for his Colgate advertisement. "I'll bring Zhan-gē along for our family dinner."

 _"That's good to hear!"_ they enthused. _"See you on Sunday, okay? Love you, Yibo, and love Zhanzhan too!"_

The video call ended just like that.

For a few minutes too long Yibo stared at his dark phone, trying to process what had just transpired.

If merely speaking Zhan-gē's name already brought so much hurt, how was he supposed to see Zhan-gē face to face?

* * *

Once the quarantine was declared over, Yibo hopped on his bike and burned the asphalt all the way to Zhan-gē's apartment.

Yibo had always been an impulsive person, so he allowed his heart to act before his brain could think and hammered on Zhan-gē's door before he chickened out. 

The door opened suddenly, and Yibo almost pounded on Zhan-gē's face. 

Sheepishly he brought his hand down and shifted on his feet. 

"Yibo?" Zhan-gē's voice was soft and warm, like he had just woken up from sleep. Yibo knew that if he looked up, Zhan-gē would be sporting bed-hair and rumpled sleep wear. He probably had no time to put on his specs, so he would be squinting a little bit. 

He forced himself to look at Zhan-gē, though, because fuck it, wu gan. 

(His description of Zhan-gē was accurate.)

"Hi, Zhan-gē," Yibo greeted brightly. "Sorry to disturb your sleep and I know I'm the last person you wanted to see, even though I deserve it, especially since it's my fault so if you want to slam the door to my face I completely understand but I hope you won't because I want to invite you to my family dinner, Sunday at 8pm because my family wants to see you and they miss you and I haven't told them about us and I don't want to disappoint them so please, would you go with me for the dinner? I will pick you up at 6pm and I swear it'll be the last thing I ask of you and I promise you will never have to see me again after this."

How he managed to spew all of that in one breath, he didn't know, but as soon as he finished what he wanted to say, he went back to glancing down at his shoes. 

The shoes Zhan-gē had bought for him.

For a long while Zhan-gē was silent. Yibo almost thought that maybe Zhan-gē had left him just like that, and Yibo was contemplating to leave and then wondering what on earth should he say to his family when he turned up alone for the party... 

"Yeah, okay."

Yibo looked up at Zhan-gē so fast it nearly gave him a whiplash. 

"What?" croaked Yibo weakly. Perhaps he had misheard? 

"Yes, okay," Zhan-gē repeated. Yibo couldn't place the tone of his voice - Zhan-gē could be unreadable if he wanted to. "I'll accompany you to your family dinner."

Something flashed across Zhan-gē's eyes, but it was gone before Yibo could decipher it. 

"Now if you would excuse me," The smile on Zhan-gē's face was tremulous. "I have things to do. See you on Sunday, Yibo."

The door closed, erasing Zhan-gē from his sight. 

"Thank you, Zhan-gē," Yibo whispered to the door. 

He allowed himself a few precious minutes to sink to his knees in front of the door, picking up the broken pieces of his heart while leaving his tears on floor, then he picked himself up and turned around to leave. 

On the other side of the door, Xiao Zhan slid down to the floor, drew his knees up, wrapped his arms around his knees and tucked his face down, allowing his heart to shatter once more, falling in pieces together with his tears.

* * *

Nerves had Yibo turned up early for their rendezvous on the fated Sunday. 

Agitated he paced up and down the street until it was nearly time for him to go up to Zhan-gē's apartment. 

Before his fist landed on the door, the door swung open, revealing Zhan-gē as beautiful and perfect as he had last saw him. 

Yibo swallowed a lump in his throat and forced a grin on his face. "Ready to go, Zhan-gē?" 

Zhan-gē shot him an inscrutable look. "I was since 15 minutes ago."

 _Oh no._ Had Zhan-gē seen him from the window when he was loitering at the streets?

Embarrassed, Yibo thrust Zhan-gē's helmet to his chest. "Let's go then, Zhan-gē!"

He should have fetched Zhan-gē in a cab instead, not on a bike where Zhan-gē's arms were encircling his waist and Yibo could feel his warmth seeping through his jacket and making itself at home underneath his skin.

It revived feelings Yibo thought he had successfully squashed, but no, seeing Zhan-gē all over had proven him wrong.

"I'm sorry I had to put you through this, Zhan-gē," Yibo said, pausing ways away from the door of his family's house, his head bowed in shame. "It's not too late for you to leave now, if you want. Don't worry, I'll find out a way to explain to them."

Zhan-gē watched him carefully. Yibo fought hard not to fidget. 

"Don't be silly," Zhan-gē said. When Yibo looked at him, there was unmistakable fondness on Zhan-gē's face. "Let's go in. They are waiting."

His family were ecstatic when Yibo stepped through the doorway, ambushing him with hugs and kisses, but when they saw Zhan-gē, they immediate abandoned him to greet Zhan-gē with twice the exuberance. 

Yibo couldn't help but pout. Zhan-gē saw his expression and began to silently laugh at him. 

For a moment, Yibo allowed himself to pretend that they had never broken up at all. 

"Yibo, have you been bullying Zhanzhan?" his mother demanded, "Why is Zhanzhan so thin? Zhanzhan, you mustn't let Yibo bully you."

"Ma!" 

"Don't worry, Auntie," The smile Zhan-gē sported this time was genuine. Yibo wished it was for him, and because of him instead. "Yibo has been treating me well all this time, even though we are busy because of work."

Yibo shut his eyes tightly. 

Lies. Yibo was the most pathetic, despicable human ever. Zhan-gē shouldn't speak so kindly of him anymore. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve Zhan-gē. That's why he... He... 

"C'mon, let's eat! The food is getting cold!" 

Zhan-gē was still staring at him when Yibo joined them at the table. 

Just for tonight, he would pretend that they were okay, that things were just like before.

* * *

They weren't allowed to leave, after the dinner.

Yibo should have known.

"Stay the night, you two, it's already late," his mother cajoled. "Besides you have too much to drink. It's not safe to drive, much less send someone home."

"Ma!" Yibo protested, but he had to admit that it was true. Yibo himself had been drinking more than he usually did, and Zhan-gē's glass was being refilled the moment its contents reached the last quarter.

"It's okay, Auntie," Zhan-gē said gently, "I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense!" his mother chided. "We have more than enough rooms in this house. Yibo, show Zhanzhan to the guest room please. I have already prepared the room for him earlier."

Yibo shot Zhan-gē a look of helpless exasperation. "I'm sorry, Zhan-gē. My mother can be really stubborn."

Zhan-gē's smile was warm. "Like mother, like son. Lead the way, Yibo."

As soon as they entered the room, the door closed behind them and there was a tell-tale sound of the door being locked from the outside. 

Shocked, Yibo whirled around and twisted the door knob. The door refused to budge. 

"Ma!" Yibo yelled, pounding on the door. "Open the door! It's not funny!" 

"I'm sorry," his mother's voice did not sound the least apologetic. "But you two have to talk to each other. You can't fool a mother, Yibo. Mother knows everything."

"Ma!" 

"I will open the door in the morning, promise! Good night, boys!"

Yibo turned to Zhan-gē, horrified. "Zhan-gē, I'm really sorry! I didn't know that this would happen!" 

"It's okay, Yibo," Zhan-gē sounded resigned. "Your mother is right. We do have things to talk about."

Yibo looked positively terrified. "We don't have to if you don't want to, Zhan-gē."

Zhan-gē's look was strangely sober. Piercing, as though he could stare right into Yibo's soul and unearth all the secrets Yibo had tried to hide. 

"I want to, Yibo," Zhan-gē's said quietly. "You owe me that much. You owe me an explanation."

Yibo gulped. He really did. Guess there was nowhere for him to run and hide tonight. And Zhan-gē looked devastated. Yibo had never wanted Zhan-gē to look like that, yet he was the one who always caused Zhan-gē a lot of pain and heartache. 

"It was Yang Zi's idea, wasn't it?" Zhan-gē asked coolly. 

"Yang Zi?" Yibo repeated, frowning. "What are you talking about?" 

"She warned you off, didn't she?" Zhan-gē pressed on. He sounded furious, but strangely, the anger wasn't directed at him. 

Still Yibo drew away. If he could be one with the wall, he would. 

_How did Zhan-gē know?_

He wasn't supposed to find out!

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It all started when I worked on a project with her last year," Zhan-gē went on, ignoring him. "Which to this day, I regret taking it on. If I had known it would be the reason of our fallout, I would never agreed to work with her."

The last thing Yibo wanted was for Zhan-gē to blame himself, when it wasn't his fault.

"It's not your fault, Zhan-gē," Yibo glanced at his hands. "It was mine."

"I should have noticed that you had started to pull away from me since then," Zhan-gē stressed, "But no, I was too busy to notice you behaving oddly. The next thing I knew, you were already breaking up with me. And then you left. I had never figured out why. For the longest time I thought that it was my fault, that maybe I was too busy for you, that maybe it was something I say or did, or lackof."

Yibo couldn't take it anymore. He sidled over to Zhan-gē's side and reached out for his hands. 

It felt right, to have Zhan-gē's hands in his once again. 

"Zhan-gē..."

"I was depressed for a long time, after you were gone," Zhan-gē's voice was flat in a way it never was, "Yang Zi was by my side all the while. At first I appreciated her company - being there for me in my darkest hours, but it gradually dawned on me that everything seemed suspicious, and the more I thought about it, the more everything made sense."

Zhan-gē laughed, but it sounded like he was going to cry. "You became distant while I was working on the project with her. After the project was completed, you decided to break things off between us. I supposed she must have said something to you. She was conveniently around when I fell apart. But I couldn't... She's not you, she wasn't the one I want, so in the end I confronted her. She confessed everything. But by then, it was too late. You were still gone, and I was alone."

Yibo squeezed Zhan-gē's hands. "She told me that I wasn't good for you, that you were not giving your all to the project because I was distracting you so she told me to leave you alone, that you deserved someone better, more matured and responsible and gentle and well-mannered and closer to your age - all the things I wasn't, and, and, at that point of time, I believed it to be true."

Yibo hung his head in shame. "I should have trusted us, should have faith in what we had, should have talked to you about it, shouldn't have believed a word she said..."

Zhan-gē folded him in his arms, and Yibo wept against Zhan-gē's chest. It was as if Yibo had no control over his emotions anymore. 

Zhan-gē held him tightly, and before long, Yibo felt a growing wet patch on his shoulder. 

Zhan-gē had been crying, too. 

"There is one thing you should know, Yibo," Zhan-gē was saying. "That I have never agreed to break up with you, so to me, nothing has changed between us."

Yibo reluctantly pulled away from Zhan-gē's embrace, looking up to him in confusion. 

"I love you, Yibo," Zhan-gē's smile was soft, despite his face being wet with tears. "I have loved you then, I love you now, and I will always love you."

Yibo couldn't helped it - he surged to capture those lips in a desperate, hungry kiss. Soon the kiss gave way to more urgent kisses.

"I love you too, Zhan-gē" Yibo whispered in between kisses. "I have never stopped. I don't know how."

Somehow they ended up flat on the bed, but they were too drained to do anything else except to hold each other close. 

"We probably should get up and shower before we sleep," Yibo tried to be the voice of reason here. "Brush our teeth."

"Mn," was all Zhan-gē responded. He sounded drowsy, his eyes already falling shut. "Tomorrow. Stay Yibo. Sleep."

Yibo was more than happy to sleep in Zhan-gē's arms.

* * *

**\- Epilogue -**

"Are they asleep?"

"Are they _naked_?"

"Hush! Let them sleep! Looks like they have patched up now. Thank goodness."

"I never want to see Yibo smile like that... Don't let me see his Colgate advertisement ever again!"

"My dear!"

Groaning, Yibo pulled up the blankets to cover himself and Zhan-gē, who thankfully was still asleep, or he would never live it down. "Leave us alone, Ma..."

"Wake up for lunch, okay?" His mother whisper-yelled cheerfully. "I will cook your favourite and Zhanzhan's favourite!"

A few moments later, he heard the door closed and Yibo relaxed against Zhan-gē.

"What Colgate advertisement?" Zhan-gē murmured drowsily.

"Ah, nothing!" Yibo panicked. "You're just dreaming! Go back to sleep, Zhan-gē!"

Yibo hoped to all deities that Zhan-gē would never remember asking about his embarrassing, cringey Colgate advertisement. 

**Author's Note:**

> And yes, I don't like Yibo's smile in the Colgate advertisement. Sorry not sorry ^^;


End file.
